“Now, hold still; because I am going to enter into judgment with you before Adonai regarding all the righteous acts of Adonai that he did for you and your ancestors.”-1 Samuel 12:7
In verse 7 we are presented with yet another prophetic verse.
Samuel tells the people “Now hold still, for I am going to enter into judgment with you.”
The words “hold still” or “to stand” refer to a scene where one is standing before a judge.
And in this case, the Judge is the Almighty God.
God will judge Israel and pronounce his verdict through His appointed mediator Samuel.
Now where have we seen this situation depicted before?
At the end times when God will judge both the living and dead through His son, right?
“In the presence of God
and of Messiah Yeshua,
who will judge the
living and the dead,
and in view of his
appearing and his kingdom,
I give you this charge”
-2 Timothy 4:1
Onward.
Samuel kicks off the legal proceedings by reminding the people that after Jacob and his family went down to Egypt to live, the Israelites became slaves and they cried out to the Lord for deliverance.
In response and in His Grace, God rescued Israel.
These righteous acts are called TZEDEKAH in Hebrew which we discussed yesterday.
You can review the concept by clicking right HERE.
Now, how did Israel respond to God’s TZEDEKAH?
To say the least, not so good.
They apostatized and served other gods their fathers had not known.
God quickly punished Israel by handing them over to the king of Hatzor, then to the Philistines, and then over to the king of Moab, and so on and on.
Thus began the cycle of sin the world knows today as the Book of Judges.
Here’s how the cycle went:
First, the people went whoring after other gods.
Second, God punished them by sending a gentile power to conquer them.
Third, Israel repented and asked for mercy.
Fourth, God sent them mercy in the form of a Judge.
Fifth, Israel was delivered and restored.
But instead of ascending on an upward trajectory of growth leading to progress and a strengthened relationship with God…
The people apostatized yet again and the cycle started all over again.
We’ve been reading about the most recent rebellion over the past couple of chapters about how Israel rejected God as King and decided to opt for a human ruler instead.
So what’s the takeaway for today?
It is this:
“Repentance does you no good unless you STAY OFF the hamster wheel of sin.”
Otherwise, you’ll be like Israel was during the era of the Judges when they just kept going around and around on the sinful merry-go-round of sin.
When you repent, completely get off the hamster wheel or you’ll find you’ll have made no progress in your life years later.
You’ll still be in debt.
You’ll still be working at that job you hate years later.
You’ll still be going on weekly porno or alcoholic binges.
You’ll still be single…
Or whatever the situation may be.
Ya feel me here?
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